Beach City Beautiful
by Carrier of Heartbreak
Summary: An old pen pal of Rose's comes looking for her after over 12 years of silence.
1. Intro

So many miles. He had covered so much ground in his search. The weight of his belongings strapped to his back made his every footprint even deeper. The climate had thrown thousands of hurdles his way, but he kept walking. He trudged on, hoping to find her, his great inspiration. The picture she had painted was tucked safely away in his backpack, secured inside a waterproof bag. Every four steps or so, his hair fell back down into his face, forcing him to push the white tufts back into the band covering his forehead.

_Her picture was his only clue. On it, she had painted him a beautiful picture of a sunset along a beach. She said that this is where she had decided to stay. She communicated this through letters, of which they had exchanged thousands. They had only once ever met in person, but he knew so much about her. And she knew everything about him. Every hardship he had run into, every existential doubt. She had kept him going. She urged him to focus on the beauty around him, and to fight to keep his love for the world alive. _

_ Then one day, he didn't receive a response from her. He waited over a month for her letter to arrive. It never came. That was over twelve years ago. It had become his mission, his whole reason for existing, to find her. She had given him a reason to go on. He owed her at least the effort it would take to find her. _

_Using his cherished painting, he traveled every coast he could reach. So many dead ends. At first, the size of his daunting task discouraged him. He then remembered what he was told. Even if a destination was not the correct one, he took in the sights. Refused to use vehicles unless the terrain was impossible to walk over. The world truly was beautiful to him. Every tree, every leaf, every speck of dust moved in such a fascinating way. Often times, he found himself drifting away with a passing beams of sunlight. The sun brought the warmth and the colors._

This was her lesson. He was living it, even in her absence. Truly, she was divine.

With that thought, he snapped back to reality. The sun was setting and he was just outside the most recent destination on his map. He smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he could once again stop and enjoy the presence of other beings.

Walking off to the side of the road, he found a large mound of sand and slipped his bag from his back. Stretching his back, finally free from the weight of so many years of gear, he squatted down and set his left hand on the ground. A warm white light started to emerge from the gloved that covered that hand. A large doorway erupted from the ground, bordered by a thick translucent rock. Smiling, he grabbed his gear with his bare right hand and brought it with him to the doorway. Without a second thought, he pushed through the door. He disappeared into a bright white light that shed light onto a nearby sign for a brief second. If one had quick enough eyes, they could have caught the words _"Welcome to Beach City"_ illuminated by the foreign glow before being hidden by the night once more.


	2. Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day for young Steven. The gems were out scouting a possible fallback zone and had refused to let him come along. Normally, he would insist on coming along anyway, but the recent stress all three of his guardians were going though told him not to fight their wishes. At least for now. He would do his part by cooperating. Maybe they would go out later with him to do something. In the back of his mind, he tried sifting through the different activities he could do with them to relax them.

The rising sun gleaming in his eyes finally convinced Steven to rise from his bed. He let out a long, drawn out yawn while stretching his stiff muscles. At the foot of his bed, Lion lifted his head to look at Steven for a brief moment before going back to sleep. Steven grabbed his blankets and crawled towards the other end of his mattress, spreading the sheets over his pink pet.

"Ha, silly Lion, those are people blankets!" he laughed. Barely even noticing, Lion's ear twitched and he remained fast asleep. Steven threw a pillow on top of the Lion pile before climbing off the mattress and walking down the stairs to the main level of his house. His feet slapped against the hardwood floor, just now starting to warm up as the morning sun shone across it. He was still in his pajamas, but that was fine. Today was lazy day for Steven. He quickly felt the need to his traditional morning sugar cereal.

Climbing up to the cupboard, he pulled out a new box of Crying Breakfast Friends! Flakes and ripped it open eagerly. Inside, a small figure of Sad Waffle popped out. His smile grew wide, then immediately faded. Thoughts of Peridot's looming threat filled his conscience. Where the gems okay? What was going to happen to them? To Steven and Beach City? To the whole world? He didn't notice his grip on the toy increasing until one of Sad Waffle's little arms snapped off and flew a few feet away. He blinked and looked down at his broken toy in dismay.

"What? Oh, man, I broke it…sorry little guy…" he groaned, walking over to where the arm had landed. He picked it up and looked at it, thinking. His tongue slid from his lips and touched the broken stub where the arm had been before pushing the arm back in. He sat back down and held there for a few minutes, his curiosity rising. Then, to his surprise, he pulled on the arm and found it to be firmly locked in place. "Ha! Heh, heh, awesome! I can heal toys too!" He held the melancholy breakfast toy to his chest and hugged it.

He was again interrupted by the sun, the beams now filling the whole house. Every color was brightened and beautiful, making Steven run short of breath. He got up and walked up to the sliding glass door, opening it gently. Leaving the door open behind him, Steven walked to the wooden railing of his balcony and stared out at the ocean. Sunlight dance along the top of the waves, creating more colors and shapes than Steven had ever seen. He suddenly felt warmth, filling his insides at the sight of such beautiful scenery. His mom, Rose Quartz, had seen everything this way. Or so he was told. Even if he never met her, he knew his mother in a way no other being had ever experience. Steven wanted to see everything the way she did.

He eyes were only broken away from the view when he heard a low growling noise next to him. Lion had exited the open glass door and took his place next to Steven on the deck. The boy looked up at the pink beast, who was gazing out at the sun in the same way Steven was. Steven was going to say something to his friend, but decided against it. This was too perfect of a moment to spoil with jokes. This was the same sunrise his mother had looked out at countless times.

"Grrrwl…" Lion rumbled, turning his head away from the view and sniffing the air. Steven looked up and tilted his head.

"What is it, boy?" he asked Lion, not sure whether to be concerned or not. Lion was not predictable enough to know. Steven watched as Lion jumped down from the deck and started walking across the beach, towards the boardwalk. The young Crystal Gem quickly followed, forgetting that he was still in his striped pajamas. "Lion, wait! I'm coming too!"

He had done it. Finally done it. After years of searching, his mission was finally almost over. He held up the painting carefully, examining each and every detail between the picture and the beach before him. It was an exact match. And Rose had captured the beach's beauty so well. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The sun rise cast light over the whole city so perfectly. At the far end of the city, a large hill was topped by a lighthouse, made tiny by the size of the land beneath it.

His knees went weak. This was it. Rose was here somewhere. The only thing keeping them apart was a small search. A little walk, not even a mile. He had dreamt of this day for so long, but never really thought he would actually be here. First, he had to come up with a plan. With his mind so boggled with thoughts of what was to come, he needed a way to relax. And there was a big beautiful boardwalk along the beach, just waiting for him. He quickly took off running, not even feeling the many pounds of weight strapped to him.

Running through the small city, he only passed a few people, including a taller boy with large gauges in his ears. The boy named Lars was walking down to the boardwalk, ear buds blasting music. The run continued, for Rose had to be found.

Finally, only after about a minute, he was walking on the aged wood of the boardwalk. Taking a deep breath, he felt the salty air of the ocean enter his nose. This was one of his favorite smells. He knew that this smell would someday be followed by finding Rose. Taking his painting out once more, he looked over it lovingly. He was here.

_"I'm here, Rose. Now, where are you?"_ he thought to himself. The weakness in his knees finally overtook him and he sat down against the wooden planks. He held the painting to his chest.

The thumping sound of giant paws broke through the sound of waves crashing. He looked over just in time to see a giant pink lion running towards him with a young boy on his back. He hugged the painting tightly, not wanting it to get ripped. Luckily, the lion stopped next to him, looking down ominously. This lion seemed…familiar somehow.

For a tense few seconds, neither the Lion nor he made a move. Then, the giant creature bent down and sniffed at his chest. Suddenly, as the lion was busy figuring out the painting's scent, it clicked.

_"This is the lion Rose used to exchange our letters!"_ he thought, emotions of all sorts rushing into his head and clouding his vision. If Lion was here, then so was Rose Quartz! _"She must have sent Lion out to greet me!" _

His revelation was quickly broken by the young boy hopping down off of Lion.

"Lion, what was that all about? Running at strangers isn't nice!" he scolded. Lion kept sniffing. Steven sighed, not sure what to do about the big lug. He then looked to the white-haired boy curled up next to Lion.

"Sorry about that, Lion's never done this before," Steven explained.

"It's…fine, don't worry about it, I know how Lion can be," the stranger smiled. Steven was immediately confused.

"Huh? You know Lion?" Steven asked loudly. The stranger smiled wider and nodded.

"Well, yeah? He's how Rose and I exchanged letters!"

At the sound of his mother's name, Steven went numb. "Wh-…wha…?"

At the same moment, Lion finally came to his own realization and bent down, rubbing his nose against the familiar boy. Steven's stuttering confused him.

"Why? Who are you?" he asked softly.

Steven didn't really know if he should be telling a complete stranger about who he is, but Lion seemed to trust him already. He must be safe.

"S-Steven. Steven Quartz Universe," he managed to say. The strange boy suddenly went silent as he caught a glimpse of Steven's gem poking out from under his shirt. His throat went dry and he felt a new weight in his chest.

_"No, please, no."_


	3. Somewhat Reunion

"Reese…You can call me Reese…" were the first words the white-haired boy spoke after learning of Rose. For a long while, he had sat in a stunned silence, his mind completely blank. According to Steven, he had passed out right there on the boardwalk. Lion had to carry him back up the little beach house on his back. When he first woke, Reese instantly asked where the painting went. Luckily, Steven had tucked it away, along with Reese's other belongings, in Lion's mane.

"Reese? Like the candy?" Steven asked innocently, trying to cheer Reese up despite the aching of his own heart. Reese tried to smile for Steven's sake, but the muscles in his face refused to change. He suddenly forgot how to move. Emoting in any way was now a foreign concept to him. His face was almost the same shade of white as the hair covering half of his face.

"Yeah…" he managed, his eyes set firmly on Lion, who was sleeping against him. Steven could see he was starting to shut down again.

"Well…she's not really gone…" the young boy said quietly. Reese's head perked up.

"She's…what?" Reese sputtered. The color returned to his face somewhat and he sat up straight. Lion looked up at the two sleepily.

"She's not dead, she's just…not here," Steven said, his voice shaking a little. "She gave up her physical form to make me." Reese went silent again. So this little boy was the projection of the Rose Quartz gem now? He looked over Steven, examining him. Yes, this boy was definitely the offspring of Rose. But since when could gems reproduce sexually?

Reese felt a crackling in his left hand and closed it tightly, the glove making a scrunching sound. The sound caught the attention of Steven and Lion.

"Sooo…how did you know my mom?"

Reese thought for a second before answering. "We wrote letters to each other all the time," he finally admitted. This peaked Steven's curiosity.

"Whoa, really? How? Weren't the gems always traveling?" Steven asked, excitedly bouncing in his seat. Reese grinned faintly to the little Crystal Gem.

"I can thank Lion over here! Big guy brought our letters back and forth on his downtime," Reese said, petting Lion's mane fondly. Lion snorted, appreciating the recognition.

"What kind of stuff did you write each other about?" the boy inquired.

"Oh, pretty much everything," Reese smiled down at his gloved hand, admiring the craftsmanship. "She was…like a mother to me…" Steven sat there, thinking for a moment.

"Sooo…you're like Amethyst?" Steven asked. Reese tilted his head. Another familiar name.

"Sorry, not familiar with Amethyst," Reese admitted. Steven got excited again.

"She's one of the Crystal Gems!" Steven had begun bouncing again, the motion disturbing Lion. Lion got up and walked to the other end of the table before laying back down to rest.

"Oh, okay, then Rose probably told me about her. I guess I haven't really had a chance to reread any of the older letters she sent," Reese explained. The mention of the letters got Steven thinking again.

"Do…do you still have the letters…?" he asked, somewhat shakily. Reese thought about the implications of this question before realizing a sad truth.

"Steven…you never got to meet your mother…did you…?" Reese asked, trying to be as gentle as possible. Steven looked at the table and shook his head slowly. Reese sat back. The letters they sent were sometimes…personal, but this boy, the son of Rose Quartz, deserved to know how great his mother was. Not knowing her…that was unacceptable.

"Steven…you can read some of the letters she sent, if you want," Reese said finally, watching as the young boy's face brightened into a wide smile. He expected an exclamation of some kind, but Steven was short of words. He sat there smiling, his eyes gleaming into what looked like a star shape.

This moment was ended by a large flash at the other end of the room. In an instant, all three of Steven's guardians, the Crystal Gems, warped into the house. Reese panicked from the sudden light and scrambled into the nearest corner. Steven watched Reese freak out, he himself not bothered by something he had seen so many times.

"Guys! You're back!" Steven yelled, running up and wrapping his arms around Garnet, the tallest of the gems. The stoic gem smiled and ruffled the boy's fluffy hair. Amethyst, the shortest of the gems, was wearing some sort of animal on her head.

"Yo Steven, check out my hat," she said, her voice cracking a little. Steven looked over at her, not sure what to think.

"It's…cool?" Amethyst smiled at him and patted his back roughly.

"Hah, we'll bring you one next time, Stevie-O" she laughed. Steven smiled back, not sure if he wanted an unknown animal draped over his scalp. Garnet didn't approve of the roughness of the pat, giving Amethyst a stern look.

To the left, Pearl let out a sigh and rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger.

"Steven, why are you in your pajamas? It's almost night time!" she scolded. Steven made a face up at her.

"Well, it was my lazy day! And now I don't have to get changed back into them for bed," he explained, making sense in his own mind. Pearl would have continued if it wasn't for the movement at the other end of the room. She quickly pulled Steven behind her and drew her spear from her gem.

"Steven, get back, there's someone else in here!" she said, holding her spear out. Steven tried to push back in front of her but she was stronger. Without a second warning, she leaped forward. Before poor Reese could speak up, he found himself backed against the wall with a spear to his throat.

"Whoa, whoa, calm!" he shouted, his glove starting to crackle again. At the same time, his left eye turned a misty white color. Pearl held him there, not letting any opportunity to escape arise.

"Pearl, stop! He's a friend!" Steven shouted, tugging at her side. Pearl ignored Steven, only finally moving when Lion pushed her spear away with his big paw. She looked around, broken from her trance. She took a step back and looked around at the room, seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. Turning back to the boy she almost impaled, she gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry…I didn't…just…" but the right words weren't arriving. Pearl started to tremble, evoking a massive hug from Steven. The trembling slowly stopped, cured by the love of her Steven. Amethyst and Garnet, not being sure of what had happened, walked over. Garnet placed her hand on Pearl's shoulder, reassuring her of Steven's safety. Amethyst, on the other hand, had chosen to walk up to the new body on the room to examine him.

"So, bud, who are ya?" she demanded. Reese's throat refused to produce sound, a combination of shyness and fear still present in him. Reese was rather tall, and he was being interrogated by a girl very much shorter than himself. Steven saw him choking on his words and spoke for him. But Reese wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"He's a friend of mom's," Steven said bluntly. Reese could already feel the questions coming. Pearl and Amethyst both let out a startled "_**What?!"**_ into Reese's ears. Pearl was the first to start asking questions.

"How do you know Rose?!" she screamed. Reese shivered back, his throat closing up again. He really didn't like being yelled at. Garnet tightened her grip on Pearl, noticing that she was once again losing herself.

"We…wrote letters," Reese managed to say. The three adult gems went silent, allowing him to speak. "She told me about you guys, and the things you did. She…was something of a guardian to me…" His voice was getting shakier. Pearl and Amethyst both adopted a look a knowing pain and dropped their offensive attitudes. Garnet stood behind them, her expression unchanged. They moved back a little, giving Reese some space.

"So why did you come…" Pearl asked, retracting her spear and giving an expression to let him know that she didn't know his name yet. Reese calmed down enough at this point to speak normally.

"It's Reese… and I didn't know…I was looking for her…" he whispered. The gems looked at one another as Reese covered his eyes with his hand, the realization setting in fully. _He would never see Rose again._ Or at least as long as Steven was around. He surprised himself with this thought, and quickly pushed it from his head. Steven _was_ Rose, in a way. And that was Rose's choice, not his. If she went through with such a thing, she must have known it would be okay. But still, Reese wished she would have told him what was going to happen.

Reese slid down into a fetal position, his back against the wall. Pearl bent down to comfort him, before she noticed something.

"Reese, Rose went away over twelve years ago, but you don't look over 20 years old for a human," she explained calmly. "Did you send her messages as a child?"

Reese flinched, not really wanting to go into details. But he knew that keeping information from a being that had just held him a spear-point was none too smart.

"I'm not human."


End file.
